1. Technical Field
This invention relates to training systems and, more particularly, to an instant replay training system designed to capture basketball players maneuvers and performance characteristics in real-time.
2. Prior Art
Athletes are always striving to reach their highest level of performance possible in order to be effective competitors. This usually includes a strict training, exercise and diet regiment that is adjusted to each athlete's specific goals and needs. For example, a long distance runner will focus more on building cardiovascular endurance and consume foods rich in carbohydrates for energy, whereas a football player will most likely focus more on strength training and consuming proteins to meet the intense physical demands of their sport. Another aspect of athletic training is learning new motor and fine-motor skills that allow an athlete to outperform their competitors.
Unfortunately, in most sports, like soccer and basketball, the players move so fast, especially at professional levels, that it is virtually impossible for a coach or third party representative to analyze and instruct the player or players on how to improve their performance. As such, an athlete may learn new skills, but might be performing them in an inefficient manner. Once this behavior is ingrained, it might be hard for a player to unlearn, so to speak, these bad playing habits, which can detrimental to their overall performance in the long run.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,056 to Evans discloses the operation of a television system or photographic camera in concert with line or boundary indicators or monitors at a sporting contest. When the indicator detects an event of interest during the contest being monitored, such as an intrusion or the presence of an object along a line or boundary, a signal is sent to a video replay recorder, also known as an instant replay system, to continue recording for a predetermined interval and thereafter cease. An indicator or mark is also transmitted into the recording system on occurrence of the event of interest and is recorded along with the continuing event until recording ceases. After recording ceases, operators of the television system may then play back the recorded event into the television system. During the play back, the recorded indicator is also transmitted into the television system to appear on television screens and indicate the time of occurrence of the event of interest. A photographic camera may also be caused to photograph the event in response to the indicator in conjunction with the replay recorder, or separate therefrom.
Unfortunately, this prior art example is not designed to assist a basketball player to improve their scoring technique.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,277 to Murray discloses a real time, instant replay time-motion analysis system of work measurement that utilizes computer assisted video techniques to simultaneously record and display an operator at work and the elapsed time for the performance of each elemental step in his work task. An observer provides an input signal each time a step is completed and a subsequent step initiated, thereby causing the display of elapsed time relating to the first step to freeze and a display indicating running time for the second step to be generated. Input relating to interruptions occurring during the work process are manually and audibly provided to the system by the observer. The time related data generated during the study is calculated in a microprocessor, and presented as graphical illustrations on the video monitor during replay of the recorded information. Unfortunately, this prior art example is not designed for assessing the quality of particular basketball techniques.
Accordingly, the present invention is disclosed in order to overcome the above noted shortcomings. The present invention is convenient and easy to use, lightweight yet durable in design, and designed for determining player performance characteristics during a televised basketball game. The instant replay system is simple to use, inexpensive, and designed for many years of repeated use.